Average prices for cattle breeds revealed by AuctionsPlus

New analysis shows how cattle breeds perform in Australia’s largest market. See the data here. VIEW INFOGRAPHIC

Brahman cattle have been included in the analysis.

FOR the first time producers can put a dollar figure on how their chosen breed of cattle perform.

While producers can access pricing information from physical saleyards, either directly or through the National Livestock Reporting Service and its associated indicators, breed specific data is not provided, or easy to come by.

Analysis by AuctionsPlus of eight different cattle breeds commonly listed on the platform gives breed specific pricing, which aims to give producers a guide of what they can expect to receive for their stock.

Price breakdowns across different breeds.

The data has been collected for the period between January 1 and May 14 this year, and then for the corresponding period last year and in 2019. Within each breed a stock category must have had greater than 100 head to be reported on.

Unsurprisingly, the Angus breed had the largest representation across AuctionsPlus cattle sales, with 83,574 Angus cattle on offer between January and May this year.

The next biggest breed representation was from Brahman, with 16,000 cattle listed during the same period. This is followed by Droughtmaster with 15,000 cattle; Santa Gertrudis with 10,064 cattle listed; Herefords, with 9510 cattle; Shorthorn with 3989 cattle; Brangus with 3247 cattle — about 1000 more than last year — and Charbray, with 2571 cattle — this is significantly higher than in other years with 325 Charbray cattle offered last year and 235 in 2019.

The largest category of steers were those weighing 200kg to 280kg. In the Angus breed, 12,301 steers in this category averaged $1551 this year, up 22 per cent on the corresponding period last year and 120 per cent on the drought lows of 2019. In the same category 3557 Brahmans averaged $1171 this year; 470 Brangus averaged $1381; 1920 Droughtmasters averaged $1373; 310 Shorthorns averaged $1430; 755 Santa Gerturdis averaged $1438; 352 Charbrays averaged $1256; and 993 Herefords averaged $1428.

Of note is the average price increase for these light steers in the Santa Gertrudis, Hereford and Shorthorn breeds.

The average price for a light Santa Gertrudis steer has risen significantly, up $600 or 72 per cent this year and 117 per cent on 2019, while a Hereford steer was up 86 per cent on last year and 127 per cent on 2019 and a Shorthorn steer is up 69 per cent on last year and 105 per cent on 2019.

Cows with calves increased their value this year by up to $1200 in some breeds.

With 8376 Angus cows with calves listed on AuctionsPlus this year, they averaged $3337, up $1150 or 53 per cent on last year, while for 280 Brangus cows with calves, the average price was $2772 this year, up $1212 or 78 per cent from last year.

Some of the other highlights in the breed breakdowns, included Shorthorn PTIC heifers increased 205 per cent on 2019 rates to average $2254, while young light heifers, weighing 200-280kg made up the largest Brahman supply this year. There were 5116 Brahman heifers in that category which averaged $1007 — up 44 per cent on last year and 115 per cent on 2019.

Analysis by The Weekly Times shows for steers weighing 200-280kg there is a $380 difference between the top priced breed, being Angus, and the lowest priced breed which is Brahman.

For PTIC heifers, the ranking is the same, with Angus costing $722 more than Brahmans and for 200-280kg heifers, Angus were $430 more expensive than Brahmans.

AuctionsPlus chief market analyst Tim McRae said the analysis had never been done before.

But as AuctionsPlus is now Australia's largest cattle market — it’s on track to list more than 750,000 cattle for the 2020-21 year –—Mr McRae said they had enough data to be able to pull breed specific information out.

“We hope it will be helpful to producers, as not all cattle breeds are the same, and it will show producers what they can expect,” he said.

It gives “concrete data” around many anecdotal discussions about what cattle breeds make the most money.

While the aim for AuctionsPlus wasn’t too compare each breed against each other, Mr McRae said the data could be used to help set realistic reserves when listing stock on AuctionsPlus.